JUDICIAL WATCH : Diversity Dividend

When President Clinton took office, he said he was committed to appointing a more diverse group of federal judges. Yet because of the initially slow pace of his judicial appointments and the large number of vacancies Clinton inherited, many feared that his promise would prove hollow. Others worried that his commitment to diversity would mean the appointment of “lesser” individuals to the federal bench. It turns out that those fears are proving unfounded.

Recent information indicates that Clinton has gotten more federal judges confirmed by the Senate than any previous President during his first two years in office and that he has surpassed all previous records for the appointment of women and minorities. U.S. Justice Department statistics show that the Senate has now approved 129 Clinton nominees. Those confirmations have reduced the vacancy rate among full-time federal judges from the 13.5% Clinton inherited from President Bush to 6.3%, or only 53 vacancies.

No less significant, 63.6% of Clinton’s appointees are women or minorities. When he took office, one of every five active federal judges was a woman or minority; now one in four is. More Clinton appointees have judicial or prosecutorial experience and fewer come from large law firms.

Perhaps even more important, a higher percentage of Clinton’s nominees have obtained the top “well qualified” rating from the American Bar Assn. than did those of Presidents Bush, Reagan and Carter. These figures alone should put to rest the tired canard that diversity inevitably means lower standards.